#degradation

As she uttered the words of the prayer, she glanced up at him as if he were God Himself. He watched her with growing pleasure. In front of him was kneeling the directress, being humiliated by a subordinate; in front of him a naked revolutionary was being humiliated by prayer; in front of him a praying lady was being humiliated by her nakedness. This threefold image of degradation intoxicated him and something unexpected suddenly happened: his body revoked its passive resistance. Edward was excited! As the directress said, 'And lead us not into temptation,' he quickly threw off all his clothes. When she said, 'Amen,' he violently lifted her off the floor and dragged her onto the couch. ↗

— Milan Kundera

#degradation #humiliation #lust #sex #love

I believe we need to attract a new generation of the best and brightest to public service and I believe that government can be a source of inspiration, not degradation. ↗

— Andrew Cuomo

#believe #best #brightest #degradation #generation

We are the hands and eyes and ears, the sensitive probing feelers through which the emergent, intelligent universe comes to know its own form and purpose. We bring the thunderbolt of meaning and significance to unconscious matter, blank paper, the night sky. We are already divine magicians, already supergods. Why shouldn't we use all our brilliance to leap in as many single bounds as it takes to a world beyond ours, threatened by overpopulation, mass species extinction, environmental degradation, hunger, and exploitation? Superman and his pals would figure a way out of any stupid cul-de-sac we could find ourselves in - and we made Superman, after all. All it takes is that one magic word. ↗

— Grant Morrison

#extinction #overpopulation #superman #intelligence

Extinction, the irrevocable loss of a species, causes pain that can never find relief. It is an ache that will pass from generation to generation for the rest of human history. ↗

— Callum Roberts

#environmental-conservation #environmental-degradation #environmentalism #oceans #environmentalism

The world has never yet seen a truly great and virtuous nation because in the degradation of woman the very fountains of life are poisoned at their source. ↗

— Lucretia Mott

#degradation #fountains #great #life #nation

Judging by my degradation in the last 24 hours, I'll be surprised if I make it to Tuesday. ↗

— Aron Ralston

#hours #i #judging #last #make

The audience too should be respected by being presented with a film as they remember it, and for those who have not seen it, as it was intended to be seen. Anything less is a degradation of the film and its audience. ↗

— George Stevens

#audience #being #degradation #film #intended

At times there's something so precise and mathematically chilling about nationalism. Build a dam to take away water AWAY from 40 million people. Build a dam to pretend to BRING water to 40 million people. Who are these gods that govern us? Is there no limit to their powers? ↗

— Arundhati Roy

#capitalism #corporations #dam #economics #environmental-degradation

Man cannot degrade woman without himself falling into degradation; he cannot elevate her without at the same time elevating himself. ↗

— Alexander Walker

#degradation #degrade #elevate #elevating #falling

Abasement, degradation is simply the manner of life of the man who has refused to be what it is his duty to be. ↗

— Jose Ortega y Gasset

#duty #his #life #man #manner